I know what you are up to

‘I know what you are up to’

Solo exhibition

VDU Menų Galerija 101

25/4/2018 – 4/5/2018

I can’t believe I made an exhibition. My solo exhibition. Might sound funny, but it was much more intimidating doing a solo show back at ‘home’ (Kaunas, Lithuania) than anywhere else. Showing the work after not living there for 7 years – it was so scary! Because all this time I had a hard time fitting in. I always felt as an outsider… Lithuania has one fine art academy and everyone goes there, everyone knows each other, and I am just this person doing weird cartoons somewhere else. Also, being an introvert doesn’t really help either. As much as everyone sees me lithuanian or refers to me as lithuanian artist – I am not really that there… I took this traditional art knowledge and skills with me, but it has been changing all this time and only the thought of me being lithuanian stayed.

So, it was an honor to be invited to do an exhibition, but there was also a lot of pressure for me. From me to myself. I kept thinking who is going to come? what are they going to say? how are they going to react? what if nobody comes? what if nobody will understand? what if it won’t be successful?

Many scenarios had crossed my mind… But once I got there, I felt relieved and relaxed. The gallery director and curator made me feel welcomed and was very supporting. I guess that’s all I needed. To receive some sympathy from a fellow lithuanian artist 😀

Once day had come, I felt like time is slipping through my fingers. Everything was just a blink of the eye.

Wake up, check the statement, check the installation, get snacks and wine, visit another place for another possible exhibition, get ready for an interview, do an interview, let people take pictures of me, stress, panic, remember you haven’t had anything to eat, be mean to a boyfriend, apologize, feel stupid, get the sandwich, do the opening, worry that nobody comes, worry more, talk more, talk louder, talk talk talk, breathe, drink wine because you are thirsty, be sad because my family isn’t there, here you go – grandma comes and not interested in my art at all! listen to her story about the dog, close everything, go for a dinner with close friends, back to the hotel, wake up in 4 hours, catch a flight, stay at home in bed all day and play games…

Yes, it was quite an eventful day, week, weeks… But it is done and it is there for everyone to see. Until Friday.

I told my manager (yes, I have my arts manager haha) that I really need good quality photographs of my artworks. A proper documentation. So she found this awesome guy and here are the results:

One room was dedicated for projection installation, consisting of 15 animations, all working as fragments of the story. Some physical bodies-fragments are shown in the next room in the office, creating a grid or a map. I didn’t plan how to put drawings together. I only thought of using some moments and put different animations’ drawings in a way that it could also tell a story. Everything else was just a play. What would go well this or that?

A photographer who got hired to document my installation, was also asked to capture some moments of the opening:

Conclusion

Overall, I am very satisfied how everything turned out. Despite of all the worries and that I didn’t meet my goals – I achieved a lot; I made a peace with myself, met a lot of interesting people, learnt to talk about art, became more confident… I think I also became a better person :))

I have been receiving a lot of positive feedback; a lot of people were interested in drawing, using animation methods for contemporary art, the idea of narrating the story, investigating public spaces, behaviour and ethics. Nobody could think of any lithuanian artist working in animation, so that made me so unique in their eyes. I really hope I was a good example for all those hungry eyes of what art could be. Limitless.

The idea of projecting on boxes was very successful and I would definitely like to use that in the future. I wonder how much space and equipment I could get for the summer show, because 4 projections were something very enjoyable. It was creating an experience rather than just showing look what I’ve been doing all this time and in case of lack of equipment I will need to think how to curate a space and how to create an experience from this limited source of whatever.

p.s. Everyone enjoyed my baked cookies. Maybe next time I should do cookies and cakes exhibition? Seriously, some people were more impressed with my baking skills than the artwork:D

Next steps

Will be working more on animations, making the sound, sorting out equipment, planning the installation, working on the statement.

And. If there is time. Attempt to make an interactive animation on iPad. If.there.is.time.